Vehicle towing devices which may be attached to standard pickup and flat bed trucks are known. U.S. Pat. No. 3,154,205 to Gillem discloses a vehicle escorting apparatus having a bumper pad for engaging the bumper of a vehicle to be towed. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,434,607 to Nelson and 3,690,482 to Gaumont disclose vehicle towing devices having wheel support trays which are lifted off the ground by a tow truck lift mechanism.
The prior art towing devices are typically very heavy and therefore are expensive to ship to a purchaser. Furthermore, towing devices often require a relatively great distance between the towing vehicle and the vehicle being towed, thereby resulting in poor and even dangerous handling characteristics for the towing vehicle. Attempts to negotiate tight street corners may otherwise result in contact between the towing vehicle and the vehicle in tow.
Prior art towing devices will function sufficiently for many applications but lack the versatility either to tow heavily damaged vehicles or to be utilized for special application lifts such as the towing of a motorcycle. Additionally, many towing devices are not capable of recovering a stranded vehicle from a ditch or gully.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle towing apparatus having a plurality of towing and vehicle handling means with each means being individually adjustable for a particular application.